Your morning routine, food cravings, and evening wind-down habits are sending you powerful messages about your health. Here’s how to decode them.

How to Read Your Body’s Daily Signals

Forget expensive health tests and complicated tracking apps. Your body is already giving you a holistic health report every single day through three simple “tells” that reveal the state of your chi levels, organ health, and yin-yang balance.

These aren’t random habits – they’re precise indicators that Chinese medicine practitioners have used for thousands of years to assess vitality and guide treatment.

Health Tell #1: How You Get Up in the Morning

The Question: Do you bounce out of bed ready for action, or does getting up feel like climbing Mount Everest?

What Your Morning Routine Reveals

If it’s hard to get out of bed, takes you ages to get going, and you absolutely need coffee, tea, or food just to function, here’s what your body is telling you:

• Your chi is low
• Your Yang energy is weak
• You could have a Yang deficiency pattern

This isn’t about being a “morning person” – it’s about having sufficient vital energy to meet the day with enthusiasm instead of dread.

Health Tell #2: What Foods You’re Drawn To

The Question: What do you find yourself craving throughout the day?

Decoding Your Food Cravings

Your food desires aren’t random – they’re your organs asking for help:

Craving sugar constantly? Your spleen needs attention. In Chinese medicine, the spleen processes not just food, but thoughts and emotions too.

Want meat or protein 3 times a day? This signals Kidney and Lung weaknesses. Your body is trying to rebuild deep energy reserves.

Drawn to fruit-only meals? Your Liver is talking, often indicating stagnation.

When your chi is balanced and organs are healthy, you’re naturally drawn to simple, wholesome foods without intense cravings.

Health Tell #3: Whether You Can Switch Off in the Evening

The Question: Can you easily transition from work mode to rest mode?

What Your Evening Habits Say About Your Energy

If you can’t switch off from work, feel that sense of urgency to keep going, or your mind keeps racing even when you’re physically tired, this indicates:

• Your chi is stagnant
• Your Yin energy is weak
• You have a Heat pattern/Yin deficiency

Healthy energy allows you to be fully present in work mode, then completely relax when it’s time to wind down.

The Good News: It’s All Correctable

Here’s what makes this approach so powerful – everything can be corrected with lifestyle changes. You don’t need dramatic overhauls, just consistent, small lifestyle edits that build chi, balance yin and yang, and support organ health (read my book Chi Health Cycle for the easy edits),

When these systems are working properly, you’ll naturally:

• Get up early and jump straight into action
• Have coffee or tea when you want it not when you need it
• Have an appetite for simple, nourishing foods
• Switch off easily from work

And that brings exactly what we all need right now: lightness, inner peace, and emotional balance to navigate these tumultuous times.

5 Simple Ways to Rebalance Your Energy

1. Assess Your Protein Intake

Are you getting sufficient protein? Are you cleansing or detoxing too often? If you’re vegan or vegetarian, consider whether your Kidneys need denser forms of protein for deep energy building.

2. Consider Chinese Herbal Formulas

I’ve seen in clinical practice that Chinese herbal formulas are the fastest and most efficient way to build vitality and increase energy levels. They work with your body’s specific patterns rather than against them.

3. Optimise Your Exercise

Do enough movement to build chi and Yang energy, but make sure your exercise energises rather than depletes you. Include breathwork as part of your daily routine – it’s essential for energy cultivation.

4. Master the Art of Rest

Can you allow yourself to be totally Yin and do absolutely nothing? Real rest isn’t scrolling your phone – it’s complete mental and physical downtime.

5. Connect with Your Purpose

Strive toward something meaningful. Having a worthy goal or dream benefits both the Kidneys (your deep energy reserves) and the Heart (your emotional vitality).

Start With One Tell

Pick the health tell that resonates most strongly with you right now. Notice the pattern without judgment, then try one small adjustment from the five strategies above. Your body has been waiting to share this information with you – now you know how to listen.